The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

USPS will reduce hours at Rosburg post office

July 30, 2014

After the inch or so of rain in my rain gauge last week, it has been nearly perfect weather as far as I’m concerned. My kids and grandkids from California thought so, too. We had a houseful of family with our daughter and her two kids, our son and his three kids and a family friend (kind of an adopted son) here for just a short visit. It was great. Our nephew was also here from the desert of California, but will be returning home today. I will miss the commotion and the kid noises, but I’m sure my husband will be glad for the quiet, at least for a while.

News from Naselle:

Another awesome Finn Fest. Lots of traffic, events, fun, food, music and history for everyone. I would like to thank all the volunteers for their hard work and extra efforts in putting this event together. It is a huge undertaking but they always seem to make it turn out perfectly. Again, thank you so much and we look forward to the next Finnish-American Festival in 2016. Some great pictures were posted on Facebook for all to see and share.

Laura Ray (Mochas and More), is collecting items for the victims of the wildfires in Eastern Washington. She has already made one delivery and is going to make another soon. For more information and to learn what she will be able to take, please call her at Mochas and More, at the intersection of SR 4 and 401 in Naselle. The number is 484-3434.

Westend news

There was quite a nice turnout of more than two dozen folks at the Rosburg Hall on Monday evening to hear the results of the survey on closing or reducing the hours at our local post office, and the good news is that it will not be closed. The hours will be reduced to four hours per day for the post office window, and hours will remain the same on Saturday for mail distribution to boxes and regular delivery. At this time it looks like the hours will be 8 a.m. to 12 noon for window service.

Our postmaster, Brad Warra will be retiring, and the office will be manned by our new post master relief person, Christa Ding. At this time the hours will not change until Brad’s actual retirement, either October 1 or January 10, 2015. One of our local residents asked if he would delay his retirement date to January if we “plied him with cookies.”

Carol Larson stated that Wahkiakum West is probably the biggest contributor to the postal work being handled by this office and being open from 8 a.m. to noon would still work well for them.

For those who are unable to pick up packages during the regular post office hours, postal lockers will be installed in the building or possibly a stand alone unit outside the building for those folks to retrieve their delivery after hours.

It seems that the postal service is trying its best not to close down the rural post offices or lay off personnel, but many positions are not being filled when someone retires. According to Mike Maguire, the PO representative conducting the local meetings in southwest Washington and Oregon, the organization has done some restructuring in the upper echelon of the business. These plans and restructuring scenarios will save quite a bit of money and keep most of the small post offices open.

The office will be reevaluated again in February on revenue based transactions which dictate how many hours the office will be open. If it generates more money, it will be open more hours. In other words, do your stamp buying, etc at the post office, not online or at another location. Thanks, everyone for supporting our local post office.

The Wahkiakum County Fair is just around the corner, and our Westend queen candidate is 17 year old princess Abbie Eaton. She lives with her parents Jeff and Amber Eaton in Naselle. On Sunday, August 3 there will be a lasagna dinner and silent auction held in the Grays River Grange Hall from 2-7 p.m. in support of our lovely candidate. The meal will be by donation, and Abbie will have fair passes and raffle tickets for purchase as well. Let’s support our Wahkiakum County Fair Princess!

There will be another much needed Blood Drive held on August 26 at the Valley Bible Church, 1-6 p.m. For more information, please contact Susan Burkhalter at 453-2264.

Scott’s Country Barn in Rosburg is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m ., by appointment or by chance. Turn south off SR 4 West at Altoona/Pillar Rock Road and follow the signs. You can also visit them via Facebook.

The Grays River Valley Center at Johnson Park will hold two more Saturday morning fund raising breakfasts in August, scheduled for August 9 and August 30, 8-11 a.m. More information will be posted next week. Proceeds from these breakfasts and other fundraisers help to pay the monthly operating costs of running the center as we receive no money from the county. Our expenses are paid through rental fees, sponsorships and the generosity of your donations.

The Rosburg Wednesday Senior Lunch Bunch meets at the Rosburg Hall each week for a nutritious home cooked meal prepared and served by Pat Potter and her volunteer crew for a nominal donation. Lunch is served at noon.

On Thursdays, a senior meal is also served at the above location and is sponsored by CAP. These two venues are the perfect opportunity to meet and visit with your friends and neighbors in a social environment.